#AtoZchallenge C is for Character, Conflict, Choice

I feel lucky to land C for my first A to Z day. There's no guarantee I'll stick to writing topics this month, but C is so clearly Character, Conflict, and Choice.

These are the fundamental building blocks of every query and every story.

1. You need a character with goals.
2. There must be something that is preventing them from reaching that goal--conflict. This could be internal, external, or both.
3. The character needs to make a choice that matters. One that will move them closer to their goal or to failure. This process is often repeated until you reach that goal (or as in some books--die).

It's as simple as that.

Check out this great video clip. I wish I'd learned this earlier in my writing journey.

What other writerly C words can you think of? How do you dig deep for character development, conflict, and realistic choice making?

Check out the other participants HERE.

Stay True to Your Character's Voice

Stay True to Your Character’s Voice

The voice of your character includes many aspects.  Would your character use contractions, or are they more proper?  Would they say "ain't"?  What about "cain't" instead of "can't"?Do they drop the "g" at the end of "ing" words?  Would they use words like "superfluous" and "salubrious"?  Would they use "heck" and "darn" or "dang", instead of their more frowned upon cousins?  Or would they say things akin to what the symbols in the picture above are supposed to represent?  No matter what the case may be, you want your characters to talk like they would actually talk.  While you don’t want to run your readers off with rampant vulgarity, you also don’t want to lie to them in your fiction.  If a character would actually say, “Oh, poop.” that’s what you should write.  However, if your character would use a word that’s a little more, shall we say…colorful, that’s also what you should write.  (As a matter of fact, Stephen King says the same thing in On Writing.)  We all know people who rarely, if ever, use a vulgar word.  We all know people that have such foul mouths we cringe whenever they start to speak.  And we all know people who are somewhere in the middle.  Your characters are going to be the same way if you tell the truth in your fiction.

And let me say this.  Just because your character’s a little old lady, that does not mean she won’t swear like a sailor.  We’re talking about the character and what they would or would not say.  Not all little old ladies would say “Oh, poop.”  One evening, I was around a group of people.  My husband and I made up one couple, and we were probably in our mid- to late twenties.  One of the couples was of an older generation, around the ages of my grandparents, between the ages of sixty and seventy.  Another couple would have been roughly around the age of my own parents, between the ages of forty and fifty.  The six of us were standing around talking and out of the blue, the woman who was roughly the same age as my granny, maybe a little younger, started talking about personal things.  Things that I know made my face match my hair.  And it wasn’t just the fact that my own granny would have literally died before discussing those things in what she would have viewed as “mixed company”, meaning males and females.  It was the vulgarity of the language she was using.  I was shocked because most of the people I knew who were roughly the same age as my granny talked like my granny.  They did not talk like this woman.  She wasn’t a bad woman, just very frank and vulgar.  True story.  So, get to know your characters.  Don’t take all of your little old ladies at face value, because they might shock you with the things they will talk about and the language they will use.

Don’t water down your character’s language if that wouldn’t be in character for them.  Likewise, don’t ramp up their language if it would be out of character.  You don’t want your readers to say, “They wouldn’t say that!  That’s not how they talk.”  Get to know your characters and stay true to their voices.

And please, please don’t add unnecessary profanity for shock value.  Please.  Just…Don’t.

Character Development

Character Development

I’ve seen a lot of stories where the story was good, but the characters were flat.  The protagonist is beautiful or handsome and seems to have no flaws.  The antagonist is inherently evil with no redeeming qualities simply because the author needs a villain.  Okay, sometimes the latter works, but usually only when you’re dealing with an entity of some type.  But humans are different.  We’re a psychologically messy and complex breed of animal.  Even the best of us have dark sides.  Geez, even the angels from the Bible have dark sides (really dark sides).  After all, Lucifer was an angel before he screwed up and was cast out of Heaven.

Characters need layers.  We don’t need to see every layer, but scenes should be written with those layers in mind.  You want to make the characters live and breathe for the readers.  You don’t have to drown us in the details, but let us inside the character’s head from time to time.  After all, ninety-nine percent of the time, we’re in that character’s POV, so we’re supposed to be in their head.  We’re supposed to hear the voices in their head when those voices are talking about the scene.

You know what I’m talking about.  When you’re arguing with someone, you’re not just listening to what they’re saying and not reacting at all.  You’re listening, and you might be thinking what a jerk this person is, or you might be in shock or disbelief this person could actually believe the words coming out of their mouth.  You’re likely to be thinking of what you’re going to say next, but you’re not likely to be staring at that person and listening to what they’re saying with drool running down your chin.  Your mind’s not going to be one big blank as they rant and rave and call you an ignorant idiot for the tenth time in two minutes.

So when we listen for those voices in the character’s head and we hear nothing but crickets chirping, it freezes us out.  Now, if the character’s mind is wandering and they’re wondering if the pants they have on makes their butt look big, no, we don’t need to see that.  Unless it somehow pertains to the scene—and I doubt that whether or not the pants make her butt look big is going to be relevant—it’s not something we need to see.  If, on the other hand, she’s fighting the urge to choke him if he calls her an ignorant idiot one more time, that might be relevant (sort of like in Hancock, when Hancock tells someone to call him a certain ugly name one more time, or when Mary tells Hancock to call her crazy one more time.  If these were written scenes, wouldn’t you just love to know what was going on in their heads at those moments?).


Just let us into the character’s head from time to time, show us what they’re thinking or feeling.  Give us opportunities to figure out what makes them tick.  Some writers think letting the readers inside the character’s head means using internal dialogue, but the same can be accomplished in narration or a combination of both.  Just remember to show us instead of telling us, and make sure you don’t slow the pace of the story.  Don’t drag on for three pages as your MC agonizes over all the reasons why she shouldn’t or can’t do this or that.

When characters take over

I’m currently rewriting a dystopian story. It’s gritty, it’s harsh. It’s cruel. And even though I’d planned out the rewrite as I always do, the second chapter completely broadsided me. Maybe it happens to you too. You start by writing something. Then make a small seemingly insignificant decision that circles out into something much bigger than you’d ever anticipated.

That’s what happened to me. I’m not going to go into detail, but I made a small choice of having a nasty piece of work being in a confined space with my main character while she’s bound up and blindfolded. I’d planned that she’d be seriously freaked out by him, but that it would be the extent of it.

Thing is though, that my writing method basically requires one thing above all else: That my characters are alive in my head. That all of the characters are alive in my head.

Which means that all characters have motivations, wants, needs, likes, dislikes and pet peeves. And this creepy character hates the main character so deeply that he wants to hurt her in the worst way he can think of.

In short, I’d created a scenario that he could take advantage of in ways I didn’t anticipate and that have ramifications on the entire story.

Which leaves me with a big dilemma. Part of me wants to rewrite this chapter, with me changing the scenario so that the creep can’t take the same advantage. It’ll be easier. It will make the whole story fall back into the plan.

I just don’t know if I should. I don’t know if I’m just running scared. Maybe I am. I often write scenes I don’t like from a humane point of view, but go with it because it feels right for the story. In a lot of ways, this scene does. It illustrates how far the world has sunk. It can show a lot of stuff that might not feel as real otherwise.

It feels dicey to me, though. Is this the story I want to tell? Or is the original version in my head the one I should go with?

Honestly, I like the original version more.

But if…

No. I’m cutting that chapter. I’ll just keep it somewhere. In case I change my mind. 

Have you also had your characters take over and veer off your chosen path? What did you do? How did it work out?

No info dumping on my reading

So the big thing that stood out from today's critique for me was the use of back-story in the opening scene of the manuscript.

As the author said:

"In it you'll see an area where I've explained the protagonist's background. Some people don't like it there, others say they wouldn't have liked the protagonist if it wasn't there. I'd love to know which way you feel."

I think it's a concern that's prevalent with authors of dubious or otherwise unlikable characters. So they dump a ton of sympathetic back-story right from the start, because really they just want the readers to like the characters as much as they do. 

Thing is though.... an info dump probably won't make people like your character. In fact, odds are that if the info dump takes place in the middle of something interesting (say a murder/theft/hit, since we're in dubious character mode) the reader will just skip until they get back to the interesting stuff. 

Or... well... they could stop reading if the info dump is done so clumsily that it stands out like an eye-sore. As they usually do. Best case, that's all they do. Worst case, they break the suspension of disbelief you've just established. So where would it leave your story then? 

Nope. Back-story dumps just aren't worth it. 

So what if the readers don't like the protagonists? you might ask.

Well... here's a bit of a shocking thing to know: Protagonists don't have to be all that likable. They only have to be interesting to be liked. Which means that if you start with the character doing something interesting (maybe adding a few sympathetic hints here and there) and keeping info dumps out of the opening, you're set for long enough to start bringing out the sympathetic aspects to the character. 

But I repeat, info dumps won't let you do this. 

Trust yourself, writer. If you know you have an awesome character, trust that you can keep the interest going long enough to make the character liked. I've done it for entire books without explaining the character's motivations, so I can tell you it's possible. 

And you know the best part about not info dumping all over my dubious character? He might not be likable, but he sure as hell is memorable. 

Coming This Week

I took the month of May off. Meaning I didn't write a thing!

Shocking I know.

However, last week it was my turn to teach a workshop at my writer's group. What could I teach these amazing women?

I didn't have a clue.

But...

I had a topic I needed to learn more about. As I started looking things up and formulating a plan, great things started to happen. My mind turned back to my stories and how all these little tidbits could make them better. This week I'm going to try and share them with you.

Here's what's coming:

• Story Structure (what does it REALLY mean?)
• Short Story Structure (and how it can make your novel better)
• A Day of Exercise--Photo Prompts
• Your Short Stories for Critique

judge that character #2

Our second submission comes from Patricia's wip, DEAR KATHERINE...

 

My life began the day I turned eighteen and fell off a planet for the first time. Up until I left school, I hadn't started living--I had just existed.

By the time I landed on Millanos, I had fallen on and off most of the colonized planets in the Tetracoil Galaxy. But even after fourteen years, I still felt exhilarated every time the synchrotron was powered down and gravity took hold of the spacecraft. The adrenalin rush from those seven minutes of free-fall, not knowing if the hovering jets would engage in time, lasted me days.

My heart was still racing when the hatch opened and fresh air rushed into the passenger cabin. I smelled brine in the air--my first greeting from Millanos. I unfastened the straps holding me to the seat and stretched my back. Through the internal passageway, I could see the three pilots moving around the cockpit. One of these days, I would learn to fly just to be able to ride in the fun seats. But first I had nine more planets to visit and Millanos was just a few steps away.

[a couple of paragraphs about what she sees]

My instructor's advice from all those years ago came back to haunt me. Make sure you find food and a safe bed for the night as soon as you land. I had ignored her advice only once and I still regretted it. After that I always made sure I had enough money to last at least two days, just in case. I glanced at the tables dispersed in front of the few restaurants close by, noting the dishes others were eating. Breads were popular and vegetables were served raw. Then my eyes met the sign for a tattoo parlor and I forgot about food.

Well this is certainly interesting! I assume the term falling off a planet is another way of saying leaving the planet...but maybe it means something different. Either way, very intriguing. As for our narrator, she (I'm making an assumption that our narrator is female) reminds me a little of my own character who also loves spaceflight and finds both the idea of it and the reality thrilling. So, is our narrator a thrill seeker? Hmm, maybe. 

I'm a little confused and curious about the instructor's advice. Isn't there any food on the ship? Isn't it safe to stay there and sleep? And why the word safe? Not just any bed, but a safe bed. Finally, she sees the tattoo parlor and forgets entirely about food which leads me to believe she's heading there to get one. Now, getting a tattoo isn't necessarily risky behavior anymore, but it used to be and combined with her love of 'falling of planets' I think it's safe to say this person likes a little excitement in her life.  

Now, what do you guys think about this character? What's your first impression of her?

judge the character #1

A big thank you to Joan for her submission. Let her know in the comments your impression of her character(s) below...

“Hey.” I slow down to catch my breath. “I like your jacket.”

“It’s okay,” Joanna says. She drops her voice. “You can tell me it looks ugly. I think it looks ugly.”

“I don’t think it looks ugly.”

“Thanks.” She looks around us, then pulls me closer. “Here, take a look at this.”

She pulls her pockets open and I catch a flash of metal. I lean forward.

Guns. Pistols. Canisters and twine and many little bottles of antiseptic.

“Why are you showing me this?” I ask.

Joanna releases her pockets and the fabric shuts again. “Your head didn’t seem 100% in the party. I thought you were like me. Worried.”

“Worried about…” I trail away.

“You know about it, Sibyl,” she presses. Mindy’s stopped for a breather and sees the two of us. She waves, then frowns.

I take Joanna’s hand and make her dance. But even then, I know our expressions are not right. My mouth feels tight and my cheeks are sore from smiling.

“Sure I do,” I say. “I just choose not to think about it.”

“That’s stupid.” Joanna stops moving. A few heads turn in our direction, but we don’t hold much attention. “It’s right outside, Sibyl. It’s all around us. Ignoring the G—” She falters, then grabs my arm and shakes it. “Ignoring it isn’t going to make it go away. Look at them,” she snaps all of a sudden, fingers digging into my skin. “Dancing as if it’s their last night. What will they do when it turns out to be true?”

           “Stop,” Deep in my stomach, I know I’m being silly. But there’s a time and place for everything, and right now I don’t want to hear Joanna. I shrug my arm out of her grip. “It’s graduation night. Nothing is going to happen to us.”

My very first impression is that the narrator and Joanna are very good friends - if not best - indicated by the way Joanna drops her voice and asks for honesty, and then shows off what she's got. I was confused by the mention of Mindy and surprised by Sibyl's reaction to the arsenal Joanna shows her. It looks like Joanna is about to go on a killing spree. The question is what prompted this? and why is Sibyl acting like she's in denial when Joanna's words indicate she's well aware of the plan? All of this leads me to think that Joanna is the stronger of the two characters and Sibyl the follower. I'm definitely very curious about what's going to happen!

Now what do you guys think about these characters? What was your first impression?

Unusual characters

Okay, he's not my very favorite character but he was definitely my most favorite character to write. Who am I talking about, you might ask? None other than Vathek, the imp, from my novel GRIMOIRE.

I found Vathek in an Eighteenth Century Romance of the same name, which begins thusly: “Vathek, ninth caliph of the race of the Abassides, was the son of Motassem, and the grandson of Haroun al Raschid.” A description follows of his table which was “continually covered with the most exquisite dainties,” his garden of rarities, a hall of music, and a “Palace of Perfumes.”

Basically he’s a guy that has it all until a mysterious stranger shows up who has the most magical merchandise, like knives that cut by themselves, slippers with spontaneous springs, and a certain sabre with gems arranged in something akin to letters. It is this item that Vathek desires, and, of course, it all goes downhill from there and Vathek comes to a bad end.

After which I thought, who better to be cursed into an imp than this guy? Here's an excerpt (Arlen has just spoken the words to Summon Vathek):

     A wet, popping sound made her snap her head around and a second later a creature appeared; a small black thing the size of a teapot with a long, smooth barbed tail. It had no hair whatsoever and bright amber eyes.

     Arlen threw herself back in her chair, fingers curling tight around the arms, eyes wide .

     The thing looked at her, blinking, then slowly turned its head, bright eyes taking in the room first, then the witchlight hanging above the desk, and finally back to Arlen, who had scooted her chair back against the wall. Its mouth curved into a small smile and she could see tiny pointy teeth, sharp as knives.

 

Who's one of your favorite unusual characters? Care to share a little excerpt?

cunning craft

 

Here's what another of my favorites has to say about characters: "Begin with a character who wants something, and you're off to a good start."*

Think about that for a second and then consider a few characters you know. Like Harry Potter. What did he want? Wasn't it his wanting that made the whole story? Or think about Frodo wanting to get rid of the ring, or Kvothe wanting to learn the name of the wind. This is where stories begin, with characters wanting something. It might be as simple as getting out of their boring town and away from their boring lives or as difficult and complex as defeating the Dark Lord who murdered their parents.

Now, think about your characters. Think about what they want more than anything and how they plan on getting it. Then think about how you're going to make it difficult for them to achieve their goal. What obstacles will they have to overcome? What sacrifices will they have to make? And will it all be worth it in the end?




* from By Cunning & Craft, by Peter Selgin.

Name that Personality

    A big thanks to Patricia who submitted this excerpt from her manuscript, LEGACY OF THE EYE. Some of you may remember her first page and recognize these two characters. The question is, can you tell their personality types? I think I can guess Catrine's but David is harder since this is from her pov. What do you think?

 "We should split up the research. You take the first whorl and I'll take the second." David sat at the desk closer to the door and powered up the computing unit.
     Catrine sat at the other desk, but her mind was not on the work. She could not stop wondering what was wrong with David. After reading the same passage four times, she got up and walked back to the board on the wall. Based on the list she had made the week before, she added labels to the dots and circled the five on her current list of potential planets to send tutors. She also crossed out the ten she was certain were not governed by a hereditary rule. Then David groaned and her mind crash-landed back on Demia.
     "How can you find all the books for a specific planet?" David's chair scraped the wood floor as he thrust it away from the desk.
     "You do a keyword search..." Catrine was confused. She had learned to do this kind of research eight years ago--and David had been the one who taught her.
     "But how do you know you are getting all the books?"
     "Because they are all indexed in the system and the search algorithm is designed to retrieve them." Catrine could see the color creeping up his neck, but she could not understand what was upsetting him.
     "What if someone deleted a book? How would you know?"
     "Why would anyone do that?"
     "I don't know!"
     David's chair toppled over as he stood in haste and they both reached for it at the same time. Catrine's hand brushed against David's skin. The hairs on her arm prickled and her heart rate quickened. The flurry of sensations that enveloped her was as strong as when David had kissed her amidst the lilies. Heat spread through her body. She was aware of how close he was, and how alone they were. She heard David take a deep breath, before he stepped away from her as if from fire.

Characters: two more thoughts

These topics didn't fit in so well with the rest...

Bits & pieces of everyone you know
Since you're a writer, you're bound to be asked if you include people you know in your stories. I'm willing to bet that while there may be similarities between your characters and your friends, they aren't exact copies. Or weren't intended to be.

I find that people I know are most likely to turn up in walk-on roles, in my stories. Background extras who need a little something to keep from being cardboard, but don't get much attention. Or sometimes, isolated little habits turn up -- a character will suddenly turn out to have my grandfather's fondness for over-easy eggs. Or when confronted with a shelf of identical objects, the character needs to tidy them up to all face in the same direction.

Overall, the people we know aren't necessarily going to be the best fit for our stories. Unless you lead an unusually interesting life...

Recurring types 
After you've written several novels, or a pile of short stories -- because you're in this writing thing for the long haul -- you're probably going to see patterns emerge. In terms of characters, there will be common traits and personality types that turn up. Some of that is because, well, you need characters who are willing and able to get the job done. Some of those common traits are there because of your own character, what you find sympathetic/realistic/interesting, and what your gut's biases are.

Is that a bad thing? On one hand, it's good to push your own envelope. That includes working with characters who challenge you to understand their motivations and priorities. On the other hand, it's hard to carry around someone you don't like in your head all day.

Have you worked with characters very different from yourself? Ones you wouldn't want to be around, if it were real life? 

Characters: what's on the page

The information about characters that ends up on the page takes many forms, does many jobs: it's in the narration, in the dialogue, it's in the exposition and action and tone. So the list below is only a few of the aspects of character that need to get onto the page.

Appearance
Personally, a character description that gets down to the height of his/her cheekbones isn't important to me. It has its place, though. Some genres put far more weight on description, both of the characters and their world, because it's a cornerstone of the ambiance. Romances, for example. On the darker side of that, horror.

Are appearance and character connected? That taps into the old (and ever-relevant) question of whether beautiful = good and ugly = evil. And certainly if there's something unusual about a character's appearance, that will change how they're treated by those around them and that will influence their personality.

Backstory
In general, a writer can say less than they believe they need to when it comes to backstory. But those details that are immediately relevant to the story -- that explain why a character has unusual motivations,  or why s/he makes a choice that would seem odd to the reader -- do need to get onto the page. Not much more than that, though.

But it adds depth and complexity: up to a point, yes. This is another point where genre and reader expectations come into play. And your gut instincts.

Voice
The character's voice can be distinct from your narrative voice. If your character is the narrator, they're the same. Do you know who's narrating your story? (It doesn't have to be the character, even in tight third person.)

Voice is pervasive: it influences word choice, grammar, what's focused on and what isn't, what's glossed over and what's described in detail. A character's voice is influenced by everything from world-building to personality type. Well developed voices can distinguish characters from each other, within a story, using only a sentence or two of untagged dialogue.

In my experience, as a character develops you get a clearer sense of what's important to them, what they focus on, what words they use and why... all of which your gut uses to structure their voice, because your gut knows how people structure the things they say to emphasize what's important to them.

If your gut's having trouble with that, I bet that reading about how to write speeches or advertising copy would help. Those are both situations where information is structured specifically to get a certain idea across.

Action
Action is character, after all.

Inactive characters are a personal peeve. It's a valid point that inaction defines character as well as action does -- I just find such characters annoying -- but let's talk about small actions for a minute. Let's say your character needs to chew on something, mentally, for a while and this is going to explain things the reader needs to know.

Your character could do this while sitting in a chair staring at a blank wall. Boring. You could say that the character is doing some simple chore while they're thinking. You could, also, intersperse the thinking with small details of the actions involved in that chore -- making them not generic actions but small indicators of personality.

Say your character's making a salad while they're ruminating. How do you make a salad? Personally, I take all the components out, pile them up and work my way through. I start with the lettuce, which I chop with a knife rather than hand-tearing. I don't use bagged mixes. These are all bits of my personality. (Feel free to steal them.)

What would you add to my list?

Characters: getting to know them

How do characters become real people? Personally, I treat them like real people as much as possible, and it seems to rub off. They start talking back, disagreeing, developing annoying habits, all those things real people do.

Getting to know them
When I'm working on a character, I ask them a lot of questions. I watch a movie and ask them what they would do in that situation, or what they think of the characters' choices. I get ready to go to the store and ask my character where they get their groceries. When I'm folding laundry or cooking dinner, I'm thinking about what chores my character does, and why.

Yes, this includes things people only do in private, too. Even if the story never follows my character into, say, the bathroom, what happens in there is a part of that character.

At the same time, I'm thinking about plot issues: how will the character react to the situations? What would be dramatic and interesting -- and reasonable? Under what conditions would a character make a dramatic choice? How do backstory and world-building influence the character? What are top priorities to someone in that situation?

For example: a character who grew up poor and occasionally went hungry. It seemed a safe bet to me that if you put food in front of this girl, it's going to vanish. Whether she likes it isn't an issue, and she'll eat until she's stuffed if she can. Poverty makes her relationship with money interesting: maybe she's very miserly and reluctant to spend what little she has. That can turn into a mean-spirited Scrooge type, or it can manifest as one of those hyper-economical housewife types. Or maybe whenever this character comes into some money, she spends it quickly. Does she buy essentials and stockpile them? Does she blow it on those nice things she's been dreaming of (but doesn't really need)? Does she even dare to want those nice things, since when she was growing up the answer was always, "We can't afford that"?

All of those things tell you something about the character's underlying personality. A Scrooge-ish attitude toward money will carry over into attitudes toward people -- or are people "different" from things, in this character's mind?

Watching and reading a variety of stories helps me a great deal in this process. It helps in both directions -- well-written stories get me fired up with ideas that work, and poorly written stories make me think about what would have been more dramatically satisfying.

Writing a story about the character accelerates the process, too. I often write little trial-run stories with characters, just to get to know them better. Just little slice-of-life things with minor goals. I often write plain conversations between two characters, during which they both reveal backstory and give me a sense of what's important to them.

Sprang fully formed
What I describe above is a slow build by accretion. Like a pearl. But on occasion, it has happened to me: a character's personality arrived fully formed. I always knew what he'd do, but getting him to explain his backstory and motivations took some arm-twisting. He's a memorable character, needless to say.

Has that happened to you?

Characters: the grass roots

Where does a character begin? Sometimes they arrive in a nearly complete package (more on that later) but usually I build mine slowly. Major characters are closely tied to the plot of the story, so when I have an idea for a plot my first question is:

What kind of person does that?
It could be in connection to the plot: what kind of person breaks into prison to rescue their cousin? Sometimes I see that vital choice or change the character must make: why is it so hard for him to let her go? Or it could refer to the character's line of work: what kind of person makes a good prince?

I talk about listening to your gut a lot; this is one of those places where I'm going to tell you to listen to your gut and work with whatever it gives you. Maybe it's something that seems dull or trite, on the surface -- ask your gut what's really going on underneath that dull, trite surface. Maybe you get a dark and scary answer that doesn't seem like it would fit your story. Or does it...?

Then comes my favorite part of the "Who does this kind of thing?" question: research. I love psychology, sociology, neurophysiology, all the sciences of who we are and why we do things. If your character's dealing with something you've never experienced -- such as child abuse, I hope -- then do your homework. Don't rely on what you've seen in movies, on TV, or in fiction.

What happens next, once you have a handful of ideas about a character, depends on what's important to you. Some people want to establish their characters' appearance first. Some people want backstory. Personally, I want to know how and why they act.

Action is character
Think of this as a variation on the "show, don't tell" advice we've all heard. I picked it up from the screenwriting world, where they don't have introspection and narrative to tell the audience about their characters.

Personality and action are closely linked: some people are careful planners, some charge in where angels fear to tread. Underneath this are questions like why does he do that, is this going to be a problem, and how is this useful in doing what needs to be done. All of which tie back into the story's plot.

Answering these will also tell you something about your character's backstory. He's self-destructive because of his miserable childhood. She's naturally shy, and it's been holding her back. World-building will come into play: he's self-destructive but as a knight that comes across as ballsy and admirable. People take advantage of her shyness because she's just a peasant girl.

Myers-Briggs personality types
I've mentioned them before, over at my blog. Myers-Briggs personality types and the sorting quizzes can be helpful in understanding your characters. The descriptions tend to be vague, but they provide realistic clusters of traits that can be a starting point for a character.

I mention them now because they can be a useful short cut -- but I'm also going to caution against using short cuts, especially on main characters. MB types can be quite useful in fine-tuning character behavior farther down the line, especially if your characters are very different from you. It's my opinion, though, that your gut knows what people are like (based on a lifetime of careful observation) and your gut's opinions should take priority over a generic psychological write-up.

One more note: MB quizzes also an interesting test of how well developed your character is. Can you take the sorting quiz for them, answering as they would answer? Do they come up as a different type from you?

Those strange beasts: characters

Characters are vital to any story. They can carry even the most hackneyed plot devices and keep readers hooked through the darkest, most awful storylines. Characters can be good and noble, dark and dirty, liars, cheats, or Dudley Do-rights -- but they have to be consistent, believable, and real.

IME, my ability to put a consistent, believable and real character on the page is directly proportional to how real the character is in my head. The following blog posts are some of how I go about developing characters. Chances are that you'll do it differently, but maybe something here will be helpful.

For me, character and plot are closely entwined. Characters drive my plots, and plots drive my characters. Being a plotter (not a pantser,) I do a lot of this work before I begin writing -- but writing is also an important part of developing my characters. I keep learning more about them, right up until the story is finished.

If you have anything character-related that you'd like a second opinion on (character development arcs, motivations, background, etc.) feel free to email it to unicornbellsubmissions at gmail dot com, or post it in the comments and get even more feedback. Questions, suggestions, pester me for more links, don't be shy.

Stories about how your characters surprised you or hijacked the plotline are always fun, too. Or whatever shenanigans they get up to, in your head. I have something like a green room where my characters can lounge on sofas, eat pizza and goof off. A lot of crazy stuff goes down in there. What about you?

Surprising Solutions

A funny thing happened while I wrote the wizard’s story. I discovered that I wrote his lost love into my trilogy, but I didn’t know it.

She was a throwaway character at first—someone my protagonist meets at a ball. She was a minor thing. She barely even needed a name.

Her role built up slowly. My main character accidentally slighted a lady. I figured I might as well use her. The reverberations of this slight will hit my protagonist in book three. Now, this lady needed more of a backstory. I found I liked her.

As I wrote the wizard’s story, I was surprised to discover that this lady was the exact age of the wizard’s lost love. She was perfectly placed. There was no reason why she couldn’t be the character I needed.

Bonus: she already had a name, so I didn’t have to figure out one for her.

I learned some other things as well. For example, the main character does meet the wizard, although she doesn’t know it. I also learned that the wizard could not have planned things as I had written. I set up the story all wrong.

Great! That means that I have to rewrite my first three chapters. Again.

Ah well. The story makes a whole lot more sense now, or at least it will once I get around to making the right edits (read: rewrite the whole thing).

Have you ever been surprised to find what you were looking for already in your story? Or am I just crazy?

Epicly Epic

Epics. Oh the Epics I have!

Historical Fiction Epics! Fantasy Epics! Sci-fi Epics! Classic Epics! I’ll read them all. Just let me get sucked into a huge, sprawling monster of a story for weeks on end. A whole WORLD that consumes me. Books that keep me up until all hours of the night reading because the world and the characters in it are so real. You get so invested, there isn’t really a good ‘pause point’.

I don’t even know how to choose my favorites for this category. Mainly because this is the majority of what covers my shelves.

Definitely The Dragon Prince series by Melanie Rawn. I remember, very clearly, the feeling of awe the first time I read the first three in this massive 6 parter. I’m not sure if this was the first book I ever read with a name directory in the back, or if it was the first time I’d ever USED the name directory in the back...either way. Holy Mother. The cast of characters in these books. But the surprising thing is that there is no real defining GOOD vs EVIL. Probably the first fantasy series I’d ever read like that. Incredible.

Diana Gabaldon’s Highlander series is another one that I keep turning back to. I’m not sure how a writer can put out consistently interesting books, with the amount of research involved at over 600 pgs each. But she does. Yes there are weak bits. Flawed plot points. But the massive scope and the character development, the dialogue. That’s one thing she can write. I can always tell who is talking in her books. She is amazing at voice. And the settings just suck you in.

Then there are the self-contained epics. Margaret George is amazing at these. Or really the classics, Les Mis, The Count of Monte Cristo, Gone with the Wind. Margaret George’s Memoirs of Cleopatra is an absolutely incredible book. Somehow she makes you feel as though you are living her life. She makes you feel as though all these little tiny details, that you realize later could only have been made up, are real. Time stands still when you read this book.

I could go on and on and on in this category...but I think you get the point!  

What epics do you read? Self-Contained? Long-spanning 10 volume monsters?

Oddly, I’ve never found any horror epics. Probably because everyone gets bumped in the first book...

How do your characters stay motivated?

Now that we are freshly motivated to keep writing no matter what, let's talk about character motivations. And I'm not talking about the surface "they are running because they don't want to get shot, or eaten, or whatever". I'm talking about the deep running things that made them who they are.

We act certain ways because of, wait for it...back story. Yeah. Things like:

• How we were raised
• Our parents philosophy on discipline
• Whether or not we had two parents
• What kind of education we had
• How many friends and what sort of friends we had
• Did we see/experience death at an early age
• Did we have to kill someone to protect ourselves or a loved one
• Were we abused
• Did we abuse
• Did we have a pet
• Or not

You can keep listing all kinds of random things, but I think you get the idea. What happened in your character's past helped form their world view and their personality. They have a standard way of reacting to certain stimuli.

The trick as writers is that we must understand all that backstory and the nuances it created in our character without laying it all out for the reader. A well placed line here and there can fulfill the need to understand motivation without writing a complete flashback.

The second trick is keeping it consistent. This isn't to say your character can NEVER do anything abnormal. But if they do, there needs to be a good motivation behind it.

Q4U:
When your characters lie awake at night, what's missing?*


My answer for Talia from The Magic Wakes: peace and hope

Fascinating Linkage:
What's My Motivation--from one of my favorite author bloggers Janice Hardy. Enough said.
*Determining Character Motivation--by Elana Johnson who quotes Glee: "When you lie awake at night, what's missing?"
The Principles of Character Motivation from Writer's Digest. Sort of a teaser to get you to buy a book. I'm considering it. :)
On Character Motivation--what hooked me to this post is the first sentence: "It has occurred to me that while writing, one of the best things a writer can do is question every action from every character."
Understanding Why Characters Act-- A nice step by step break down of some character motivation from a movie.
The Psychology of Character--"A good writer needs to know both cause and effect, needs to understand that there is impetus behind the actions of his characters. When the writer knows a character’s motivations, she can write actions that make sense for that character in a specific situation."

Like it's 1975

Today is a National Holiday!  What? You’ve never heard of this holiday? You must live under a rock.

It’s My Birthday!

And in celebration of my Birthday I’m putting out this simple writing prompt. 


Show me some character development. Show me this person going through something. How life can lift you up or knock you down. 


Don’t think too hard about it. Just a simple couple of paragraphs in the comments. Here’s your prompt:

“All she wanted for her birthday was a beautiful dinner out with _________. However, …”